POLLOCK’S NEWS UPDATE 5/16: Phoenix Police Department confirms Enzo case is closed, can be re-opened if new evidence emerges

The Phoenix Police Department has confirmed to POST Wrestling that the case against Eric Arndt a.k.a. Enzo has been closed, Arndt's counsel has released a statement, New Japan announced Dominion is sold out, Ronda Rousey on the European tour, WWE announces first eight participants of U.K. tournament & more.

POST IT NOTES

**We have today’s edition of Rewind-A-SmackDown posted on the site with Wai Ting and I reviewing Tuesday’s episode from the O2 Arena in London, England. We chatted about the main event between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, the reaction to Daniel Bryan and his new submission, the new promo style from Big Cass, the ‘Mellabration and upcoming title match with Asuka, and we take your feedback and questions with tons of discussion during the feedback section. The show can be downloaded at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/05/16/rewind-a-smackdown-5-15-18-styles-vs-nakamura-royal-mellabration/ and subscribe to POST Wrestling on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio and Google Play.

**Tonight, we will have a new edition of the British Wrestling Experience with Martin Bushby and Benno. You can subscribe to their own feed at https://www.postwrestling.com/subscribe/.

**A new edition of upNXT will be out on Thursday with Braden Herrington and Davie Portman.

**Friday’s Patreon bonus review will be a review of “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and you post feedback on the POST Wrestling Forum. If you sign up for the POST Wrestling Café, it will also give you access to every bonus show we have done since December.

WRESTLING NEWS

**A statement was released on Wednesday by Tom Cargill, who served as the general counsel for Enzo Amore (Eric Arndt). The statement reveals that the Phoenix Police Department has informed Arndt that there is insufficient evidence to warrant any criminal charges and they will not be proceeding to the County Attorney to prosecute. They have stated that their investigation is closed and no charged were filed by the woman making the accusations against Arndt, which led to his dismissal by the WWE this past January. The statement characterized the accuser of having “exhibited a complete lack of truth or credibility” with Arndt “fully and unequivocally” denying the accusations.

The statement concludes that Arndt is working on his next venture in the entertainment industry and reconnecting with his fans.

Vince Lewis, who is the Public Information Sergeant at the Phoenix Police Department confirmed to POST Wrestling that the case has been closed and issued the following statement to us:

The case was investigated to its fullest extent, while working with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The case has been closed. This would not preclude the case from reopening, should new evidence come to light.

POST Wrestling has also reached out to the WWE for a response to the statement.

**New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced they have sold out Osaka-jo Hall for the June 9th Dominion card at the arena. We don’t have an exact number with the capacity of the building listed at 16,000 before staging is set up and that is going to kill of seats. This year is a loaded show with the 2/3 Falls Match between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega for the IWGP heavyweight title and Tetsuya Naito taking on Chris Jericho.

**Ronda Rousey was scheduled to have her first singles match at Wednesday’s European show in Geneva, Switzerland. Rousey is working four of the European events and scheduled for Thursday’s show in Vienna, Austria, Friday in Turin, Italy, and Saturday in Paris, France. I would expect the video of these matches to be in heavy circulation and there is a heightened curiosity to see Rousey’s matches and whether they will be kept short or allow Rousey to work full matches and gain experience.

**It was announced on Tuesday that the WWE will be returning to the O2 Arena on Wednesday, August 29th for a special card featuring Ronda Rousey wrestling in the city for the first time. They are also advertising Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, and Finn Balor for the event.

**The WWE has announced the first participants of the upcoming 16-man U.K. tournament with Zack Gibson, Joe Coffey, Jack Gallagher, Dave Mastiff, Kenny Williams, El Ligero, Joseph Conners, and Amir Jordan announced on Wednesday. The remaining eight participants will be announced Friday with the winner of the tournament facing Pete Dunne on the WWE’s second night at Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday, June 19th.

**Ring of Honor will be holding their Best in the World pay-per-view card at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 29th. Tickets are available now for the show and range from $25-75. It is a larger venue than they previously run in the city and the arena having a capacity of 5,000.

**The Mauro Ranallo “Bipolar Rock ‘N Roller” documentary will be airing in Canada on TMN 2 on Friday, May 25th at 10pm Eastern, the same night it premieres on Showtime in the United States. Ranallo has been doing lots of media this week for the documentary.

**Carmella recently spoke to BANG Showbiz and confirmed she was not going to be in the next season of Total Divas.

**Impact Wrestling has announced that Rich Swann has been added to the upcoming television tapings on June 1st and June 2nd in Windsor, Ontario at St. Clair College. Swann has recently resumed his wrestling career after hinting at retirement back in March following his WWE release last December. Swann is also working at Impact’s One Night Only pay-per-view taping on Sunday, June 3rd in Mississauga.

**Here is the updated card for the WWE’s Money in the Bank event on Sunday, June 17th, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois:
*AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title
*Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey for the Raw women’s title
*Carmella vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title
*Braun Strowman vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens vs. Rusev vs. Bobby Roode vs. Member of New Day vs. Winner of Big Cass / Samoa Joe in the men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
*Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Winner of Billie Kay / Lana vs. TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA in the women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match

**Here are the matches set for tonight’s episode of NXT at 8 pm Eastern on the WWE Network:
*Lacey Evans vs. Brandi Lauren
*Velveteen Dream vs. Ricochet
*Kona Reeves vs. Raul Mendoza
*Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. The Undisputed Era

**Effective June 1st, Harold George Meij will assume the role of president of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Meij is originally from The Netherlands and moved to Japan when he was a child. (Correction: We had previously written that a new position was being created for Meij, but he is taking over as president from Katsuhiko Harada).

**Gene Okerlund is featured in a new Mountain Dew commercial with Kevin Hart.

**Harry Smith attended Raw on Monday in London, England.

**MLW has announced a $20,000 Bounty Match between Shane Strickland and Brody King for their next television taping on Thursday, June 7th at the Gilt Nightclub in Orlando.

**The next Lion’s Project card will take place in Tokyo at Shinjuku Face on Wednesday, June 13th and they have announced the following card:
*Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji
*Ren Narita vs. Shunsuke Sayama
*Manabu Nakanishi & Toa Henare vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Dinosaur Takuma
*Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoyuki Oka
*Ayato Yoshida vs. Shota Umino

**Destiny Wrestling out of Ontario has announced dates for the following cities in the province, as well as a show in Nova Scotia: June 10th in Alliston, June 17th in Innisfil, July 15th in Vaughan, July 27th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 5th in Collingwood, August 12th in Wasaga Beach, August 25th in Mississauga, August 26th in Haliburton, and September 16th in Owen Sound.

**The latest episode of “Ten Pounds of Gold” has been released by the NWA with a behind-the-scenes look at this past weekend’s “All In” press conference and announcement that the NWA title will be defending at the show:

**This week’s “Being the Elite” covering the sellout on Sunday:

MMA NEWS

**This past Saturday’s Bellator 199 card average a combined 605,000 viewers between the Paramount Network and CMT broadcasts of the show. The show was headlined by Ryan Bader stopping Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the opening round of their Heavyweight Grand Prix fight. The fight only lasted 15 seconds and had no time to grow. The number broke down to 453,000 viewers on the Paramount Network and 152,000 watching on CMT.

**The UFC 224 preliminary fights on FX averaged 574,000 viewers on Saturday with the second hour of the prelims going head-to-head with the first hour of Bellator 199. UFC headlined the prelims with Cezar Ferreira vs. Karl Roberson and featured four first-round finishes on the prelims. The pre-fight show on FX averaged 281,000 viewers and the post-fight show did 218,000 on FS1.

*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 5/15/18: Styles vs. Nakamura, Royal Mellabration
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/gexuce/180515_RASD.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 5/14/18: Ronda vs. Nia, All In Sold Out, Cena & Nikki
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/qw8wde/180514_RAR.mp3
*****
POST ROUNDTABLE #5 FEAT. ARDA OCAL https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/b9tvqh/180513_ROUNDTABLE_ArdaOcal.mp3
*****
UFC 224 POST SHOW WITH JOHN POLLOCK
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/3ixksb/UFC-224-POST-SHOW.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #10: WWF Survivor Series 1996 (Patreon)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/18736543
*****
upNXT 5/10/18: Heavy War Machinery with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
https://upnxt.podbean.com/mf/download/nuy7bg/180510_upNXT.mp3
*****
KEEP IT 2000: Ep. 30 – “It’s The Tape” with Zach Linder (July 24, 2000)
https://keepit2000.podbean.com/mf/download/e23wve/180509_KI2000.mp3
*****

Subscribe to POST Wrestling
https://postwrestling.com/subscribe

POST Wrestling Forum
https://forum.postwrestling.com

Support our Patreon – The POST Wrestling Café
http://www.patreon.com/POSTwrestling

Follow us
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

About John Pollock 5865 Articles
Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.